Glimmering strands of golden blonde hair brushed across Aurelius' shoulders as a gentle breeze flowed through the air. Above him, thick branches weighed down by their leafy burden danced in unison as the wind slowly began to pick up. As the wind reached its apex, a multitude of vibrant green leaves were sent fluttering to the ground and flowed past the elven prince's gorgeous features as the sun's brilliant rays of light casted a golden, luminescent glow upon his face.
Reaching up to push the shimmering strands of golden hair back behind his ears, Aurelius called out to his steed. Obeying the will of its master, the powerful Ranislavian warhorse slowed to a crawl before finally coming to a complete stop. As the vibrant rays of the midday sun continued to wash over the rider and his mighty steed, an alluring aura of golden light emanated itself from the prince's wondrous hair, causing those nearby to look upon the elven teenager with expressions of awe.
As he looked around the path before him, the young prince took in the wall of trees that surrounded the roads small number of travelers. With his curious eyes scanning his immediate surroundings, Aurelius quickly recognized the familiar presence of an otherworldly voice whispering into his ears.
The young prince ruined his youthful features with a deep frown as he quietly wondered why the mysterious voice had decided that now was a good moment to return to him. A torrent of deeply rooted concern soon became apparent upon the golden-maned teenager's noble posture as his thoughts began to rewind themselves to the moment he had crossed into the land of his wife's birth.
It had been several months since Aurelius had last heard the mysterious voice speak to him. He knew that the voice only spoke to him when he was beset by danger, yet his curiosity over why the otherworldly voice chose this exact moment to return had begun to narrow his sight and distract him from his surroundings. Curious as to what the voice was trying to warn him about, Aurelius urged his mount forward so that the two of them could be out of the copse of trees as soon as possible. Aurelius’ thoughts began to cloud his vision as another gentle breeze brushed past his shoulders.
If only he were able to understand just what exactly the arcane and ancient-sounding words were trying to convey to him.
Aurelius shook his head to help evaporate the growing sense of danger that began to envelop his blinded senses, yet the young prince's frown remained. A sigh escaped from his lips as his thoughts slowly returned to the here and now and not some mystical danger that may or may not present itself to his current form.
Holding his head up high, the young prince took a deep breath to calm his nerves as his thoughts returned to the task at hand, yet one question remained.
'How in the world am I going to get to What's Her Name's?'
With that thought coming to his attention, Aurelius' eyes returned to where they last were, absently gazing into the back of a small band of traveling merchants as they sat lazily in the back of a badly beaten and battered cart. The otherworldly voice grew louder as his eyes remained steadfast upon the hardy group of men, whispering into his ears about an unseen danger with a wicked tone in its words. Yet despite the sordid history he had with the mysterious voice, Aurelius paid it little heed as he continued to absently mindedly watch the handful of merchants as they sat scattered across the back of their badly beaten wagon.
His lingering eyes moved towards the front of the cart where a various assortment of goods had been piled up high. So high in fact, that the group's potential source of income swayed against the soft breeze with such a frightening speed that Aurelius wondered to himself when exactly the assorted wares would begin to topple over. Yet the merchants appeared to care very little about the possibility of having their goods topple over and spill out onto the roadside below. They were far more interested in laughing amongst themselves.
Aurelius had first noticed the merchants carefree attitude when he had first caught up to them after entering the forest, but now that he had seen their blatant disregard for the safety of themselves and their wares, he quietly wondered just how in the world they made a living for themselves.
To make matters worse, there was a new group of travelers that had seemingly come out of nowhere. Forcing the elven prince to question the idea of whether or not this new band of strangers were the direct cause of the mysterious voice to speak to him after having been gone for so long.
However, for the time being, Aurelius decided that it would be best for him to ignore the alien and unintelligible voices. The young prince needed to find out how to reach his destination and contemplated over whether or not he should rush ahead and ask the group of merchants for the directions that he desperately needed.
'Iskra did say that I shouldn't waste these language potions on things that I can resolve on my own,' Aurelius thought to himself as he lowered his head in shame. 'But if I don't ask for help, then how else am I supposed to get where I need to go?'
As the storm of self-doubt blew itself into his thoughts, Aurelius had failed to notice the merchants wagon slow to a crawl before eventually coming to a complete stop.
A gasp went out from Aurelius' lips as he caught sight of the wagon with barely a moment to spare. Silently cursing himself for his absent-mindedness, he pulled back on the horse's reins and called out for the creature to halt.
Confused by the traveling merchant group's abrupt actions, Aurelius gave the men a confused glare as those within the wagon began to jump down from the sides of their wagon.
Greedy and bloodthirsty expressions were in abundance upon the merchant's faces as they started to surround the golden-haired prince while reaching for items that had remained hidden behind their backs.
An eery fit of laughter forced Aurelius' eyes to flicker behind him and watch with growing concern as the rear group of newcomers mirrored the movements and aggressive actions of those in front of him.
The otherworldly voice's laugh grew louder as the prince returned his gaze to the front-most group of aggressors, further distracting Aurelius from the sudden turn of events.
As his eyes lingered over those in front of him, the apparent bandits turned to face the lone teenager with an assortment of crudely made weapons as the men at his back took several steps closer towards his anxious form as they drew an equally sinister array of crudely made weaponry.
An awkward smile soon found itself spreading across Aurelius' face as he now realized that the pot-hole riddled road that he had been traveling on for these last few days was in the state that it was for a good reason.
Materializing out of the collective group of bandits, a bear-like man in not only stature but also girth, spoke with a deep, slathering voice. The barrel-chested and potbellied man was in stark contrast to the lanky and underfed bodies of those that accompanied him. As the last of the bear-like man's minions finished surrounding the young prince, Aurelius slowly dismounted from his steed while quietly wondering to himself if this very same man was the one who led the group of vagabonds.
'There's no way that he's not in charge of these people,' Aurelius pondered to himself as a chorus of cruel voices rang out all around the elven teenager. What these men wanted out of him, the young prince could not say for sure, but hoping to resolve the situation without any unnecessary harm, the luminescent-haired prince raised his arms as a sign of his surrender.
With such a submissive action being presented to themselves, greedy smiles soon became plastered upon an abundance of the bandits' faces as the sight of having caught such an easy prey drove the collective group of men to sneer sinisterly towards the blonde-haired teenager.
Suddenly, sounds of heavy footsteps approached Aurelius from behind, forcing the young prince to twist his head and stare back at the encroaching forms of several armed men as they smiled evilly towards their supposedly defenseless prey.
"Well," Aurelius smiled as he lowered his head before letting out a sigh. Readying himself for what was to come next, the young prince could only shake his head in disbelief at such a turn of events. "Iskra did say that this place was riddled with bandits."
Before any of the bandits could react, Aurelius jumped into the air and somersaulted over the man directly behind him. With both hands holding onto the stunned bandit's shoulders, the elven teenager dug his boots into the back of the shocked vagabond. Within the blink of an eye, the elven teenager launched the two of them towards opposite directions.
Those around them could only watch with disbelieving stares as the group of bandits watched with captivated breaths as their equally stunned companion slide across the rock-laden path as the bandit's body tumbled along the length of the dusty road.
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For his part in this strange act, Aurelius lingered in the air for several seconds longer than any of those nearby could have imagined before finally landing with an unsteady balance and a prideful smile. Quickly regaining his footing, the elven prince kept his eyes locked upon the stunned group of men and after having successfully completed such a shocking display of sudden acrobatics, the elven prince's face beamed with barely-contained pride as he gazed upon the stunned expressions of those around him. Aurelius' golden strands of hair glimmered brilliantly beneath the bright rays of light that pierced through the thick layer of leaves, giving off an otherworldly impression of the blonde-haired teenager for the assembled group of bandits.
A fierce, bear-like growl erupted from the bandit leader's bearded lips as he gestured for his men to surround their upstart prey for a second time.
Readying himself for what was to come next, Aurelius took a deep breath as a somber Song of Death and Chaos flowed past his lips.
After having spent the last several months being subjected to a grueling training regimen designed to shape the young elven prince into both a Spellsinger and a Wardancer, Aurelius was eager to regain some of the confidence that he had lost back during his failed Troll Hunt.
With a lyrical grace and fleet-footedness that could only be found within the gorgeous forms of his people, Aurelius dashed towards his newfound adversaries with an unsteady, yet prideful aura emanating itself from his body. As he danced through their ranks, moving with such grace and finely tuned finesse, many of his opponents could only stare in awe as they watched the golden-maned teenager twist and turn his body as if he were skating upon the glistening surface of a frozen, snow-riddled lake.
Unable to react in time before the elven prince entwined himself with their bumbling forms, the bandits could only stare in frightened awe as Aurelius sang the various, individualistic Songs of their deaths. Each of these Songs were woven with such grace and utter terror that bloodied tears flowed down the sunken cheeks of every single one of the bandits as their eternal souls were offered up to the elven goddess of death.
As their bodies began to cool, Aurelius guided the recently deceased corpses towards the ground with gentle precision. The last thing that he wanted to be seen as was that of a monster, even if those viewing him as such were his enemies.
Ending just as quickly as it had started, the fight soon came to a halt as the last soul of his enemies had been offered up to the icy-embrace of the elven underworld.
All save for one.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Aurelius smiled as he turned his attention towards the sniveling form of the vagabond's bear-like leader. With curiosity growing upon his gorgeous features, Aurelius stared down towards the sole remaining bandit as a solution to his problems slowly built itself in the back of his mind.
Fear flooded into the depths of the bear-like man's trembling eyes as he dragged himself away from the towering figure before him. His mouth hung low, and his lips trembled with an uncontained terror as words failed to materialize themselves into reality as the light-footed killer of his men took several steps towards his nerve-wracked form.
Watching the trembling man before him, Aurelius paused in his steps as he reached for one of the flasks that remained at his sides at all times.
Astonished by the sight before him, the nameless leader could only stare in disbelief as he watched the young prince pull out a strange vial and greedily drink the glistening contents that lingered within.
With a series of harsh coughs erupting from his lips, Aurelius wiped away the last remnants of the vile substance as it burned through the depths of his throat.
Still stunned by the strange sight before him, the potbellied man could only jump back in fright as the golden-maned slayer dashed towards his prone form within the blink of an eye. His dirty brown eyes were filled with unrelenting fear as the teenager's luminescent hair draped over his pockmarked face.
As the young prince loomed over the bear-like leader's prone figure, a gentle breeze caused several of the teenager's golden locks to gingerly brush across the man's quivering cheeks as the youthful prince planted a polite hand over his chest to show that he meant the man no further harm.
"Might I borrow some of your time?"
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Exhausted beyond belief, Aurelius trudged towards the final destination of his journey. With his horse in tow, Aurelius made his way down the lonely road that led to the looming manor ahead of him. With such a short distance left in his journey, there lingered a dreary presence over the looming manor that led the elven prince to believe that the building had seen better days.
Aurelius shook his head in disbelief at the sight before him, curious as to how far the mansion's owner had gone in debt. Despite his curiosity however, the young prince remained staunch in his efforts to do the right thing and think more positively towards those that had been hit hard by financial misfortune. Especially since the very person that he was about to visit was the only friend of his wife that Aurelius was aware of.
He was desperate for his wife's friend to have an excellent first impression of him. Not because he wished for the individual to think highly of him, but because he wanted for his wife and her friend to rekindle their relationship.
If Aurelius was able to accomplish such a feat, then the idea that the two most important women in his life would one day reconcile with one another could blossom into something other than a hazy dream.
Despite having such an optimistic hope for the future, he was well aware of how difficult an undertaking such a feat would take. Both women were bullheaded in their own right and wouldn't dare to budge an inch from their respective positions towards one another until their opposite had apologized first. Something that neither of the two women would dare to relent to the other.
A tired laugh escaped from Aurelius' smiling lips as the thoughts of his family somehow morphed into the bear-like vagabond that he had roped into serving as his guide. The elven prince was surprised by just how easy of a time that he had in convincing the man, and as his weary body drew closer towards the mansions vine covered main entry, Aurelius grew curious as to whether or not it was the right idea for him to allow the potbellied man free.
Yet now that the young prince stared at the overgrown portal into what lay beyond the pair of oval-topped, wooden doors, Aurelius could easily see the loving attention to detail that someone dared to take as they desperately fought to maintain the aura of nobility that was once rampant upon the manor's gallant structure.
A chilled breath came from the elven prince as a gloved hand brushed itself across the door's floral-patterned and rust-inlined surface. Unsure of the idea if he should wait patiently for someone to open the door or if he should knock upon the wooden portal's cracked surface with a pounding knock, Aurelius tapped an impatient finger against the weathered surface.
Time seemed to tick forward at a snail's pace as the elven prince lingered at the entrance. Eventually, he had enough and knocked loudly as he announced his presence to those that lay within.
Once again, time appeared to linger in the air as silence filled the void around the awaiting teenager. The oval-topped doors loomed over Aurelius' exhausted form as they refused to open themselves for the royal prince of a foreign culture.
It was at that moment that he knocked for a second time.
And when no one came to answer his summons for a second time, Aurelius rapped his knuckles against the weathered doors once more.
And then for a fourth time.
And then a fifth time.
And a sixth time.
With each round of strikes that erupted from the increasingly angered prince, the pair of portals that refused his entry into their mystical domain bounced against their steady frames as they fought desperately to contain the infuriated teenager.
As the sound of his frustrations over the doorway's refusal to accept his commands continued to ring throughout the immediate surroundings, Aurelius backed off from his assault as the futility of his endeavors soon came to light.
Yet once his incessant pounding had ceased, the doors creaked open with a loud groan as a soft, yet stern voice called out to him.
For Aurelius, he had no clue as to what the voice had said to him as the effects of the language potion had already worn off well before his arrival to the destitute mansion.
"One moment please," He called out to the voice as he dashed back towards his awaiting steed, fully understanding that the two of them wouldn't be able to understand one another unless he was to drink from the nearly empty vial of magical liquid.
As he knocked back his head to drink from the vial's contents, the voice called out to him with an astonished breath. As the magical liquid slowly began to work itself through the course of his body, the alien tongue that the elven prince was once unable to understand slowly morphed into the familiar words of his people.
"-Drunkards are not welcome here!"
The voice called out as the doors slowly began to close.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Shocked at being called a drunkard, Aurelius rushed forward and planted his foot between the closing portals. The voice's owner let out a defiant huff of air as the two individuals fought for supremacy over the doorway's imminent opening or closing. "I have a letter for someone."
"Sorry," The shadowed voice hurriedly stated as its owner struggled against the prince's strength. "But we don't accept mysterious missives from drunkards or anyone else for that matter!"
"Wait, please!" Aurelius called out again as he patted his body down to no avail as he searched for the letter in question. "It's for-"
Frustrated at having forgotten her name, Aurelius looked up into the air and let out a fierce growl as the name of his wife's friend failed to materialize in its entirety.
Having become distracted by his failure to remember such an important detail, Aurelius had allowed for his grip to loosen itself upon the door. This gave the owner of the voice to momentarily gain the upper hand and slam the door with a reverberating bang.
Stunned at having lost such an easy fight, it was here that it dawned on the defeated prince that the introductory letter that he was to deliver had been buried within one of the many pouches that lay across his mount's back.
Thankfully, he knew exactly which of the pouches had the honor of carrying such an important item that could lead to the success or failure of his mission.
"Please wait right there for one moment," He called out in hopes that the voice's owner was still behind the looming doorway.
Within a flash, Aurelius had rushed towards the nearby horse and reached for the pouch in question. He tore at its straps, spilling the contents that the pouch held within its woven maw at his feet before rummaging through the mess that he had created.
It didn't take long for him to find the letter in question, as he found a sealed envelope with a series of alien letters upon its white surface.
At least he hoped that it was the right one.
"Can you give this letter to the person whose name is on it?" Aurelius asked of the stranger as he stuffed the envelope between a slightly agape crack that lingered between the two doors. "I'm supposed to wait here until I get a reply from her."
Hoping that he hadn't torn the envelope into an illegible shred of paper, Aurelius turned his back towards the portal's looming presence and sat himself down upon the small flight of steps that served as the final gateway to the overgrown mess of vines that covered the stone entryway.
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